Rekindled
by BlueBlender
Summary: A 10k word-long gratuitous fight scene, featuring Team RWBY and the Soul of Cinder. There's little rhyme or reason for the set-up. This fic is mostly to get myself back into writing. Any comments would be appreciated.


Thanks to AmazingLettuce and AuroryBorealis of for editing this unnecessarily long and drawn out fight scene.

This was mostly to get my hands wet on writing again, and it really is just a fight scene. Don't expect much answers or context as to WHY things are happening like they are. That wasn't my focus.

* * *

Team RWBY didn't know what they were looking at.

No, they knew exactly what they were looking at. It just took a while for their minds to wrap around the imagery. Frame that with a background of acres of forest fire behind it, the howls of a dozen burning Grimm, and  
you have the textbook definition of "hellscape".

"Oh… oh god," Weiss whispered, clutching her rapier with both hands trembling. Her hands were already damp and she vaguely remembered to keep Myrtenaster upright or the sweat might jam its ports.

"Heh… ha… what the hell? What the hell?!" Yang chuckled, part-horrified, part-nervous. She had to stay confident in front of her leader, yet every hair on her body stood on end.

Blake couldn't even look at the burning figure. Her eyes were already leaking from the bright flames surrounding them and she shielded herself with her hand. Unfortunately, even that didn't block the sight of a still-alive Ursa squirming and crying - crying - as the heat from the spiralling poker embedded in its stomach intensified.

The youngest of the team was the least responsive. The end of her scythe hit the ground as the blistering breeze washed over her. Wasn't she complaining about the summer sun an hour ago? Compared to this… knight, the sunlight might as well have been a pocket-warmer.

 **"** **GRRRRRRRYARAAAHA!"**

The huntresses jumped at the sound and rushed into defensives stances. Ruby Nearly dropped Crescent Rose as she spotted the source of the sound: a colossal Alpha Beowulf, the fur on its back burnt off, charging at the knight.

Yang was the first to take action, instinctively leaping in front of her sister. The Beowulf was just as tall as the knight and twice as wide, and in its panicked state, none of them knew how it would act.

It pulled out its poker from the now-dead Ursa and held its ground, letting the Grimm sink its teeth into its helmet.

On cue, some straggler Beowolves followed the alpha's example, and leapt from behind the burning greenery. Biting as hard as they could, they also frantically scratched at its smouldering armor, not even realizing that they had caught fire once more.

Soon, it was dogpiled by even more Beowolves, and a mountain of bleeding, burning, and howling Grimm was all that could be seen.

"Ruby, get back!" Yang screamed. The order was more to steel herself than protect her, and she slammed her Ember Celica together. "We'll distract it, and you take Crescent Rose and back us up."

"What?!"

"Listen!"

Yang turned to her, her blond hair alight and eyes scarlet.

Ruby froze. Yang's semblance wasn't something she used lightly and the tone in her voice was enough to tell her Yang was scared.

"Me, Blake, and Weiss'll distract it. Your rifle's got the only bullets big enough to hit that thing without completely melting."

Both sisters knew Yang was right. Earlier, they had tried to slow it down at a distance, where its weapon couldn't reach them. The heat radiating from it, the heat that ignited the grass he stood upon was enough to liquify and vaporize the bullets by the time they hit its armor.

Only Ruby's high-calibre sniper rounds were big and fast enough to hit it and knock it back. It couldn't stop it, but surely slow it down.

"But-but-but what about you?" Ruby pleaded. The locator beacons in their scrolls were still active, and it's been an half-hour since they first engaged the knight. Help was surely on its way. "We can still run! We don't-"

"Ruby!"

She turned to the sound of Weiss before she felt a hand strike her left cheek.

"Did I hear you right? Ruby Rose, the leader of our team wants to run away from a wicker man?"

Ruby stared into Weiss's glare. What nervousness she had disappeared with a forceful slap.

"Think again, because we're not running," she barked as she clutched Ruby's hands,forcing Crescent Rose between them.. "We're all scared. I'm scared! But that's no reason to give up and I'll be dead before I let you humiliate the rest of us."

"She's right."

Blake joined them, grabbing Weiss's shoulder before she could continue assaulting their leader's poor cheek.

"We can't run away forever, not without burning this whole forest and every town around it, and we can't take that thing with just the three of us."

She gave a small smile and faced the mountain of Grimm. It had started to smoulder and smoke blew out of its crevices like a chimney.

"Besides, if you don't do it, who else will make the world better. Like the ones in the stories?"

Ruby wiped her eyes dry and stared at the faunus. Her body trembled, but not just with fear. She looked at her hands, holding Crescent Rose tight.

As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books… Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." She gritted her teeth and nodded.

The smoking heap of Grimm was now ablaze. Even still, the Beowolves held fast, buying time for the girls.

"Alright, lil' sis! Let's get cookin'!"

 **BTHUUUM!**

Seemingly responding to Yang's words, a ground-shattering explosion fired scraps of Grimm in every direction, forcing the huntresses to cover their faces.

Almost unscathed, the knight stood upright, emanating heat waves that bent the air around it like a radiator. Its poker, which had been buried under the ground, was still red-hot when it was pulled out, with embers shedding off it.

Yang gulped. She and her team saw how fast it was when it chased them, and they could easily outrun it. However, like Blake mentioned, that would only cause further collateral damage.

"What now, "big sis" ?" Blake joked, daring her to answer. The smirk on her face mirrored Yang's own as she lined up beside her.

"We stall for time. Wait for backup to find us." She pounded her fists, setting herself alight once more.

"Hmph. And how do you propose we "stall for time" ?" Weiss asked, standing next to Blake. "With the dust I have left, I could probably freeze it."

"No. He's hot enough that he's burning the trees and plants without even touching them. Unless you can make an iceberg that covers the entire forest, it would only slow it down for a few seconds. We spent too much dust fighting off Grimm in tandem with that thing. You and Ruby are the only ones with ammo left, so you need to make it count." Yang stepped forward and cracked her knuckles. "I'll take him on. You guys keep a safe distance."

"No way," Weiss spat. "It would be more efficient to take it on together, all four of us."

"We're not trying to fight it! I'm asking you to back me up when I throw in the towel!" Yang growled. "If all of us fight, we'd just be tiring ourselves out faster. I'm the one with the most aura. I'll distract it with Ruby's supporting fire and buy you time to recover. Remember, we're just holding out for backup to find us." She forced a smile and gave her sister a thumbs-up. "You got that, sis? Aim for the legs!"

Ruby had already finished taking up a position about twenty-five feet away. Enough space for Yang to move freely in, yet close enough for her to take an accurate shot.

"Got it!" she shouted, raising her own thumb.

 **"** **FIRE…"**

Yang whipped her head back. This thing could talk?!

The knight's hand was set alight and purple gas came flooding out of its mask.

"Shit, hold your breath!" Yang shouted. As inappropriate as it may have been, years of video gaming taught her that any vapor with that kind of colour was never safe to inhale.

Nodding, Weiss and Blake jumped away from the expanding cloud. Yang followed behind Weiss, her eyes widening as the cloud eventually covered the entire area.

 _No, at the rate it's slowing down, it shouldn't touch Ruby - oh god -_

"Weiss, blow that thing away!"

Weiss knew exactly what she meant and she promptly switched Myrtenaster's ports to the last charge of wind dust.

Before Weiss completely cleared the smog, Yang sprinted to the middle of the field and saw the man running, with its lit poker in hand, towards Ruby.

 _The gas wasn't for us, it was meant for camouflage!_

Ruby saw her sister coming for her, but the knight had a head start. She had to slow him down before the three of them lost their open field advantage.

Repositioning her rifle, she fired at its torso, hoping to slow it down even a bit before going for its legs. On every other shot, she jumped back about ten feet to keep a safe distance in case the knight decided to exhale that poison again.

 _Last shot. After this, last mag. I need to make this one count!_

She held her breath and aimed at its leg, just before it could take a step.

KTANG!

The knight stumbled, nearly tripping over as he plunged its poker in the ground for balance, just five feet away from Ruby.

"Yes!" Yang huffed. She pounced behind it and landed in front of its face. "You're fighting me!"

Not waiting for an answer, she delivered the strongest uppercut she could muster, grinning madly while the man flew in the air.

"I'm not done!"

She jumped into the air before it could start falling and, in a blinding barrage of rapid punches, she sent it spiralling down to the open field.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted.

"Ruby, stay in position!"

"No, your hands!"

Yang glanced at her knuckles, but she had noticed from the pain. Red-raw and numb, her fingers felt like they were dunked in boiling water.

 _Even with my aura and Ember Celica, just touching him did this? If I'm going to fight him, I can't even let him graze me. And that poker..._

"I'm good, sis!" Yang gave a quick thumbs-up behind her. "Weiss, Blake, stay at the edge of the clearing!"

The knight quickly got back to its feet. It balled his empty hands and stared at the embedded poker next to the caped girl. Growling, it knew it would be impossible with the blonde pugilist distracting it. Yet, the two other girls were not fighting alongside her.

Regardless, all it could think was to get its sword back in its hands. Even if its flame dies out.

It ran for the poker, but Yang was ready this time.

She avoided its initial attacks and pummeled into its gut, pushing it back further and further into the middle of the field. Every punch she threw, her fists stung from the impact, as if she was hitting lead, but this only forced her to try and knock it down faster. Just being around drained her aura, and its immense heat almost acted like aura itself, repelling her punches just slightly . It took everything she could muster to keep it on the defensive, but at least she was managing that much.

 _Can't last for long, I need to permanently incapacitate it, or Weiss and Blake won't stand a chance._

The knight crossed its arms but she was getting faster and faster. It couldn't keep track of her punches. It needed to fight back. It needed distance.

Lost in her fervor, Yang didn't see it pulling its arm back and received a blistering punch to her face, reeling her back.

Out the corner of her eye, she saw it readying more punches. She knew she couldn't regain her footing in time, and decided to block them with her gauntlets the best she could, and even that was with minimal success. The heat combined with its strength made every one of them feel like an explosion.

"Yang!" Ruby screamed. She took aim and unloaded into its head, hoping to disorient it or at least divert its attention away from her sister.

But it knew better than to get distracted. Compared to the woman's punches, their strange pellets were nothing. With a steady yet ferocious combo of its own punches, it ignored the sniper's shots the best it could and eventually made contact with the fighter's face.

Ruby grimaced. It was like it had become a completely different person. Before, it swung its poker like a trainee, swinging wildly and burning whatever it came across. Now, it showed a fighter with proper posture and firm footing. It was intimidating, at the least.

"Yang! Come on, Yang!" she screamed again. She ran in, hoping that somehow, getting closer would help her bullets do more damage. Foregoing the legs or the head, she aimed for the arms, as soon as its punches were thrown, but before they hit their mark.

 **KTANG! KTANG! KTANG! KTANG! KTANG!**

Through the pounding, Yang could make out the sound of Crescent Rose. She knew she had to hurry, or she would waste this opportunity and her sister's precious ammo.

Fighting against her concussion, it took all she had to move her head from a sudden kick in time, and even more to roll out of its reach from further attacks.

She stared back at the knight, half-excited, half-panicked. Even with her aura protecting her, just those five seconds of pummeling left her dizzy and gasping for air.

The knight didn't expect its punch to be redirected, and the momentum from its arm was enough to make it stumble. Caught off-guard, it jumped back with its arms crossed, creating even more distance between them, in case the woman planned to counterattack.

Resting her hands on her knees, she spat out a mouthful of blood and nearly gagged when she saw a tooth in the puddle.

 _If this is how messed up my mouth is, I'd hate to see my face right now._

She wiped away the ash from her numb cheeks, only for her fingers to be coated in a rivulet of more blood - her nose was broken.

 _I'd DEFINITELY hate to see my face right now._

Her hair flared out like a fan. She knelt and clenched the grass, getting into a starting position.

I know I said we had to last as long as we could, but I give up! I'm just gonna do what Nora would in this situation!

She blasted across the field like a missile, making sure to keep low to keep accelerating. Even if she would cross the distance in just a couple seconds, she wanted all the speed she could get for this one.

The knight saw her coming and got back into its stance. Winding up for a kick, it twisted its body before shooting its left leg for Yang's head.

Right before they were in range of each other, Yang bent herself even lower, nearly tripping from the increase in acceleration.

Its charred leg searing her hair, she managed to slip below the kick and aimed for the right leg - the one keeping its balance.

 **CRRRNK!**

Surprised, the knight lost balance and tripped over Yang, faceplanting. It tried to get up, but something was pulling its leg.

"Not yet!" Yang screeched. She grabbed its ankle, ignoring the burns slowly forming on her hand, and kept punching into its knee.

 _If I can just break one limb, or even jam the armor so it can't use its leg…_

CRRNK! CRRNK! CRNK!

Weiss and Blake's mouths were agape, not sure whether to cheer her on like Ruby or stay silent. But they knew one thing, and they knew the other was thinking it - this was getting hard to watch.

This was nothing like the duels they participated in Beacon, or even initiation. Then and there, combat was fast, hard, and tense. Here, Yang was drained from less than five minutes of tussling. Blood and ash peppered the ground around them, and now she was mounting the knight and wailing on its leg like a fight in a schoolyard.

The damage taken was the most obvious. During combat lessons, the students were hurt, but thanks to their aura and Goodwitch's supervision, it was never more serious than a sprain or a concussion. Now, combined with the bloody nose and swollen cheeks, Yang looked like her face was mauled by a Beowulf on fire.

"She's not going to make it. Should I go?" Weiss asked worriedly, keeping her eyes on Yang.

"I'll drag her out when she gets decked again. You use all the ice dust you have left and stop him from moving, on the meanwhile," Blake answered. "And I'll distract it. If I… lose, take Yang with Ruby and get out of here, through the path it chased us through."

"Didn't you hear me?" Weiss spat. "We're not running away, you even said-"

"I said that we won't run because it would burn the forest down. But we can minimize collateral damage by running through the parts of the forest it already burned. We don't hope to last as long as Yang."

 **CRNK! CRNK! CRK!**

"Oh shi-Yang!" Blake cried, seeing Ember Celica catch fire. "Get out of there!"

 **CRK! CRK. CRK.**

"Damn it!"

Yang couldn't take the pain anymore and had to fall back before her clothes burnt off her. She looked at her smoking hands blistering and sizzling, but the fuming lumps on her wrists caught her off-guard - her gauntlets had melted.

She cursed herself. Every second holding the knight down, every punch she threw into it had led to Ember Celica softening into ingots from the heat. The harder she punched, the more they deformed. She feared that even with her semblance-increased strength, the softened metal absorbed more energy than she would have wanted.

"Get out of there!"

She looked around and saw Blake running towards her.

"Blake-"

She couldn't finish her sentence. The knight took its moment of freedom to kick her in the face with its good leg, sending her flying past Blake and towards Weiss.

"Yang!" Ruby rushed forward with her own semblance and caught her sister from hitting Weiss. Unfortunately, with the momentum from her dash and Yang's weight, they ended up tumbling far past Weiss and crashed into burnt foliage.

"Ruby!" Weiss felt her heart skip a step. Every sense told her to check on them - was Ruby knocked out? - but Blake was the one in immediate danger, charging in in Yang's stead.

Double-checking Myrtenaster's dust, she cast a glyph under the rising knight's feet. In a second, a pillar of ice formed, trapping its legs and a good half of its torso inside it.

"Blake, I'm gonna check on Ruby!" Weiss screamed, already running towards the pair.

Blake didn't have time to answer. As soon as the ice formed, it was already steaming from the knight's armor. Its head was exposed, and with that kind of helmet, if she could aim just right-

 **SHRK!**

Yet Blake's smirk quickly disappeared when her blade was grabbed. Still lodged in its head, the knight shook wildly, trying to wrench Gambol Shroud out of his face and free itself from the melting ice.

 _This thing doesn't have a brain? Or can it function without one? Is it even alive?_

She put aside her questions the best she could and kicked off the man, freeing her katana before it could deform. She gazed at its steaming tip and growled. It had only been five seconds, but the majority of the ice had melted and the knight was freed.

She looked back at Weiss, who was shaking Yang and Ruby awake. They were in no condition to run away. She had to keep its attention as long as she could or another forest fire was the least of their problems.

The knight gazed at her, then at the trio behind it, then to its still-buried sword. He marched.

Blake saw its right leg limping behind, and rushed toward it. She slashed at its right side as fast and as many times as she could, hoping to capitalize where Yang left off. Its armor was definitely damaged, Added to the fact that the intense heat was still surrounding it, she had to be quick or fall to the same fate as Yang.

She turned around. She hit its kneecaps, but it kept walking.

 _That poker? Is it trying to get its weapon back?_

Snarling, she aimed her blows towards its head, forgoing its leg in favor of distracting it as long as possible. If Yang couldn't break it leg with her semblance-boosted punches, her sword wouldn't even dent its armor.

Nevertheless, despite innumerable strikes to its head, the knight ignored her, other than waving one hand like it was shooing a fly.

 _Can't jam Gambol Shroud in its armor, it's too hot. Can't take the poker, too hot. What can I do?_

Mustering all the aura she could, she aimed for its bad knee and kicked as hard as she could, forcing it to kneel and futily swipe at her.

With it distracted, she spared a moment to rest her own foot. She understood now how Yang got tuckered out so quickly. Expending all her aura to not just attack, but to defend herself from the knight's ambient heat, she felt herself drained just by being near it. Her foot throbbed at the recoil and she could smell the rubber sole of her boot melting.

But she couldn't rest. The knight got back up and this time, put its arms across its face, and sprinted the best it could to its sword.

Blake tried to intervene, but at the speed it was running, she couldn't get a clean shot at its leg without getting run over. It was still limping, but that unnatural pacing combined with the speed reminded her of a charging Boarbatusk, and she knew how dangerous getting it front of one of those were.

So she opted for a different approach. Taking her sheath in hand, she ran towards it again.

It saw her coming but kept running with its arms raised. If she was insane enough to get trampled underfoot, it would oblige her.

At this moment, Weiss turned and saw the imminent collision.

"Blake!"

As expected, Blake felt a rush of heat wash over her before getting hit and shattering apart - shattering?

The knight didn't know what happened, and was doubly confused when it tripped on something: Gambol Shroud's sheath.

Blake had re-appeared right beside the knight, shoving the sheath between its legs. She winced at the sight of the now misshapen case, but she knew it was for a good cause. Wasting no time, she pounced, stabbing its left hand with her katana.

 **"** **GRRRAAUGH!"**

Another scream pierced the air, but she continued to bury her weapon deeper. She wasn't certain she could have penetrated its armor, but somehow, she did and managed to buy a few more precious seconds.

She looked back at Weiss, and smiled when she saw Ruby back on her feet, leaning against a tree for support. However, Yang wasn't faring well. Her face was caked with blood and ash and she was still unconscious.

Ruby shook herself fully awake and pulled her scythe closer to her body, still dizzy. "Weiss… what hap…"

"Hurry and wake up!" Weiss groaned as she knelt down to check on Yang. "Blake needs covering fire!"

Ruby rubbed her eyes clean and saw the knight on the ground, Blake standing over it triumphantly.

"Blake!" she screamed at her. "Are you alright?!"

"That's my line!" Blake answered, giving a small wave to her leader. She turned back to the knight and pulled out her sword, flinching but not retreating when the hilt left a boiling sensation on her hand.

 _Almost forgot to focus my aura. But at least my sword's still intact. Red hot, but intact._

It was true. The part of the sword that made contact with its hand was a dim red. She knew it was dulled from deformation, but as long as she could still use it, that was all she could ask of it for now.

The knight soon got up, groaning in pain as it cradled its impaled hand. It seemed to leak a bright orange sludge, but the "bleeding" quickly slowed, and the it made its way to its weapon again.

Blake cursed herself. Yang was a brawler, who wasn't afraid of getting dirty and takes blows as well as she dishes them out. Full-contact combat was her forte. It was the reason, other than her reserves of aura, how she lasted as long as she did against it, ignoring her blistering skin all the while.

She didn't. They've been fighting and running away from it and the Grimm for over an hour. Due to the chaos from the forest fire's inception, as well as her fighting style and constitution, she used her semblance freely to avoid as much harm she could.

Compared to Yang, she might as well have been a wooden stick. What else could she have done in her state? She used all her dust, and so much as getting near it would burn her.

"Ruby!" Blake screamed behind her. "Could use some supporting fire about now!"

"On it!" Ruby readied her rifle again, ready for any attacks to intercept.

With its weapon back in hand, the knight leered at the faunus girl and her team behind her. The pugilist was knocked out, and the sniper was still keeping watch. It wanted to attack the sniper from inconveniencing it any further, but the white one, the one that imprisoned it in ice, was keeping guard over her. That left the one with the katana.

 **"** **BURN…"**

It pointed its poker at Blake and swung it in a blinding flash.

"What the… It can change its weapon?!"

As if to confirm her, it cupped its left hand and slid the newly-formed katana into it, mimicking its sheathing. Finally, it bent its knees as it placed its hands to its hip.

 _That stance… It's like the one Adam uses with Wilt and Blush. Is it waiting for me to make the first move?_

Without warning, it crossed the distance between them in a single stride, its blade drawn.

Blake barely managed to dodge, not even noticing the blade. She leapt back for some distance and ran her fingers through her hair, grimacing when she noticed a handful of hair has melted.

 _Talk about a close shave… Oh God, I'm becoming like Yang._

She tensed into a ready position once more. The knight resumed its own position as well.

Should I let it take the initiative again? If I attack, he'll just react. Iai's a move that's meant to be used as a counter-attack. Or at least, that's what Adam said. In that case, I should just wait for him to attack again and counter that.

On cue, the knight strided forward, its coiled katana aflame.

 _Not very patient, huh?_

She lunged headfirst, leaning as low as her body would allow. The knight was taller than the average man, and its damaged leg didn't allow it to bend its knees fully.

The blade once again grazed her hair in a horizontal cut, while she attacked at its leg, managing two solid strikes to its knee in the exchange.

They both turned to reposition themselves. The knight grabbed its weapon with both hands now, and continued attacking with a combo of wide, blinding swipes at the faunus.

She could feel the hair on her skin singe with every attack. Were it a normal sword, she could have avoided the blows easily, even deflected them. But it wasn't a normal sword, and her opponent wasn't a normal person. The weapon's extreme heat gave it a greater range than its blade. It took all her concentration to compensate for this "hidden blade", and she wasn't escaping it unscathed.

Raising its katana for an overhead slash, the knight tried to chop her in two. But she saw it coming, and managed to counter with another couple blows to its bad leg.

 _Okay, got a good rhythm going on. But this thing's isn't stupid. Can it change its weapon to anything else? If so, why hasn't it? Is it trying to outpace me?_

The knight growled at its fruitless attacks. It was obvious now that merely attacking wasn't enough. It needed to change not just weapons, but tactics.

Resting its katana in its right hand, it raised its left hand to its chest. A second later, its fist was encapsulated in a ball of fire, growing longer and thinner like an uncoiling snake.

"Uh-oh."

And like a snake, it stretched out of its hand, trying to constrict any part of Blake it could.

In reflex, she activated her semblance, replacing her body with a double for the fire to wrap around. The knight hesitated, seeing two of the same target, but the clone was quickly destroyed and the knight continued to swing its whip even harder.

"Ruby! Support!" Blake shouted as she sidestepped and curved her way through the knight's flexile assault.

Ruby spent no time responding and aimed her rifle at its left hand. The fireball was screaming to her "target", but the way he wildly swung about such a small mark made it difficult to get a bead on it.

She ran closer and skirted around them, hoping for a better vantage point, but it only made things worse when the knight started running towards Blake. It didn't forget its original weapon, and it swung both to ensure either its whip or sword would hit its deceptive opponent.

Sweat rolled down her cheeks, not just from the residual heat waves, but the pressure. She could have been as close as she needed, but with the way knight was moving, she felt like she had a better chance of hitting a fly spinning around in a wind tunnel. Worse, she could miss and hit Blake, draining her of what little aura she had.

"You need to get out of there, Blake!" Ruby shouted.

The faunus knew her leader was right, but getting out of its range was more difficult than it looked. Like a dancer, the knight mimicked every step she took back, jumping when she jumped. The combination of its footwork and the fire whip made it difficult to get out of its range.

 _I can't dodge that fire for long. Half my hair's already melted! But what can I do? Can't dodge, and any clones with my semblance get destroyed-_

She felt something hit her back, and her heart sank - her back was against one of the burnt trees.

"Blake!" Ruby and Weiss shrieked, the latter sprinting forward.

Blake saw the whip coming, and she felt every muscle in her body tightening on instinct. She had only one place to run.

She leaned forward with her katana at the ready. At the beginning of the knight's swing, she charged towards it.

Seeing her coming, the knight swung its whip and sword as hard as it could towards her.

 _A whip with a reach that long and slow, I can see it coming. If I can just parry the blade, I got enough time to-_

Snarling, she dropped her body, sliding across the ashen grass. The whip flying past her head, her katana made contact with the knight's, sending sparks into the air while she slipped past it.

In the moment their weapons clashed, she could see Gambol Shroud turning red once more. It's been through so much duress that she doubted she could cut paper with it now.

 _I can't last much longer. Gotta get it-!_

She flipped it into a reverse grip, and while the knight was finishing its attack, she stabbed into the knee joint of its legging and kept pushing, eventually twisting and snapping it so the blade was lodged in its leg.

She did all she could do. Her weapon was destroyed and her aura was tapped out. She had to get back on her feet and get out of its range. She saw Weiss running up to her-

"AAAAH-!"

A sudden pain rang in her neck, cutting her screaming short. The knight had her in its hand, choking her with its left hand. Her feeble shield of aura broken, welts formed around her neck, which immediately shrivelled into charred flesh.

Instantly, tears leaked down her face and onto the scorched earth as she was hoisted eye-level to it. Her skin crackling, her hair melting, it felt like her head was about to explode.

 _His elbow… I need to stab… Gambol Shroud._

Blake glared into the mask, gritting her teeth at the red eyes behind the visor. With the last of her strength, she stabbed between the elbow guard, only to burn her hand. She had dropped her broken sword.

The pain and her tears obscured her vision. The last thing she could see was the knight raising its katana to her bare stomach.

 **"** **SOUL… POWERFUL SOUL... "**

"Get away from her!"

The knight whipped its head around to the source of the voice, but a piercing pain in its left elbow diverted its attention and forced it to drop its victim.

A rapier slipped through the cracks in its armor and managed to penetrate the metallic plating. But Weiss wasn't wielding it. In fact, the rapier didn't have a pommel at all.

While the knight was busy pulling the embedded blade out with limited success, Weiss dashed towards Blake and grabbed her.

However, the knight quickly saw the dressed girl take her friend in her arms, and pulled a leg back to kick both of them down.

But he was too slow, and Weiss was ready for a counterattack, having placed a speed glyph under Blake while the knight was distracted by the rapier. In a blink, Weiss and Blake was gone in a slipstream of ash, re-appearing besides Ruby and Yang.

"Is she okay?" Ruby asked, not taking her eyes off of the still-struggling knight.

After laying her down, Weiss's first reaction was to check her pulse, but Blake's blackened skin around her neck advised her otherwise. Luckily, her incessant coughing was enough. That was sign she was breathing, right?

"She'll-she's going to be fine." Weiss bit her tongue, her words catching in her throat. Saying that "she'll live" made it sound like Blake was in worse condition than she was in. Then again, being strangled and burnt simultaneously was a nightmarish way to go, and the marks it left on her didn't inspire much confidence.

"Bweiss, bwe… bwe need ta go."

She faced the speaker and couldn't help flinching. She knew Yang's face suffered the most and that swelling was a simple sign of inflammation, but now she was seeing the damage up close: it looked like a bizarre pizza of blood, jagged cuts, and ash.

 _How can I think about food at a time like this?! We're gonna die!_

"Bweiss, go… Rubwy, Bwake, just go."

Weiss and Ruby stared at her. She stumbled to her feet, the remains of Ember Celica crumpled lifelessly on the ground. She clumsily stood straight, leaving bloody handprints on her knees.

"Yang, don't!" It took all Ruby had to avoid choking or hiccuping in her sobs. "Weiss and I will-"

"Do I need to slap some sense into you, too?!" Weiss screamed, stopping Yang from walking. "You have got burns all over your arms, your face looks like an old prune, and your weapons and aura are gone! If you can stand, take Blake and run behind Ruby!"

Meanwhile, the knight knelt down again, clutching its right knee while its left arm hung limp. The problem wasn't the pain. It was the physical impairment they gave it by being lodged in its body. It wasn't like the bullets that popped and fizzed into nothing when they made contact. The broken blades bent and even fragmented into smaller shards in its body, but it refused to melt. Trying to take them out was only partially successful and it still couldn't remove the smaller chunks embedded in it.

It could no longer run and its left arm was weakened, but against the woman in white, it only need one arm.

"It's coming this way!" Ruby yelled, briskly wiping her eyes..

"Just fall back with Blake!" Weiss yelled at Yang once more. "Yang, you told us to take time to recover, and now, it's your turn!"

Yang looked down at her hands, bloodied, torn, swollen. It took all her strength to simply move, and the pain faded in and out, tempting her to sleep just to escape it. But her team, Ruby, were counting on her.

"Don' trwy to stop me!" she screamed. "You go… save Bwake, Ru-"

Weiss nearly tripped over herself, but managed to catch Yang before she hit the ground.

"Good grief," she sighed, smirking. "And I thought Ruby was the blockhead. Ruby! Take your sister and Blake out of here!"

"But-but-don't you need help?" Ruby stammered, dashing next to her sister in a gust of rose petals. She grunted under her sister's weight but dutifully hobbled to Blake as well.

Weiss checked Myrtenaster over, running over the dust chambers. "Right now, ensuring our survival is most important. I'll slow him down, and catch up with you."

Ruby managed to hoist Blake's arm over her, finally getting into a comfortable position. "Make it back safe, 'kay? As… as your leader, I won't forgive you if you don't!"

With that, Ruby hobbled as fast as she could back the way they came, not bothering with one last look of acknowledgement before parting.

 _Dammit, Ruby. Now's not the time to go all tsundere. That's my shtick._

She wiped her eyes clear and clenched her hands around what remained of Myrtenaster. Even without the blade, she had to hold out. Her remaining dust and semblance were imperative. It was why she wanted to cover for Ruby.

The knight saw the cloaked girl running away, but it couldn't give chase in this state, never mind the white one looking determined to halt it.

It knew better than to underestimate her. It remembered the glyph that appeared under it before getting trapped in the giant ice pillar, and since neither the blonde nor the animal-girl used them when they fought it, it was likely that she was the caster.

No, it knew. The soul doesn't lie. Not to it. And it would have hers.

With the blade in its leg softened enough, it marched towards her, its sword glowing white-hot. What was once a katana now transformed into a slender rapier.

 _Oh, now it's just mocking me._

Weiss griped at Myrtenaster's hilt. Her ice, wind, burn, and earth dust were all used up from fighting off the grimm. Only gravity and lightning remained untouched

She remembered Yang's words, about how they were supposed to stall for time, and considered herself lucky. She rivalled Blake in speed, and even Ruby with the help of her semblance. That was what she had to rely on to survive. Pure reaction, agility and training.

She was scared, but she wasn't embarrassed by it. She knew better than to get unnerved in the face of an enemy. Instead, she prepared, almost eagerly for the chance to see what she could do and how much she has improved.

But she was a cautious fighter. Analyzing the whole situation, gauging the enemy's capability, all before making the first move was her fighting style.

She didn't have to wait long.

The knight assumed a familiar stance before thrusting, a beam of blinding fire shooting out the tip like a laser.

Weiss cursed. She expected something like this and jumped out of the way in time, but she could still feel the innate heat of the flame brush her body. Behind her, several burnt trees were hit instead, a smoking hole left where it pierced.

 _Is this what Blake and Yang felt? Just one slip up and you're dead?_

She didn't have time to reflect any further. In a single leap, he was in range for a slash.

She knew she couldn't just jump back. The sword had an indefinite range with that beam, so distance meant nothing to it. She could only dodge side to side, hoping the fire doesn't graze her.

The knight kept the pressure, swinging wilder and faster until it saw her slow down to catch her breath. Pulling back, it thrust its rapier once more.

But like before, she saw it coming, and prepared a glyph under her feet beforehand. Before the knight could react, she slipped past him and created another glyph around her hilt.

It didn't think twice before turning around and instinctively raising its left arm to block itself, only to be struck by a stream of lightning fired out of the glyph, knocking him back, convulsing.

Weiss noticed its susceptibility to her attack and grinned. If bullets couldn't touch it, what about something that couldn't melt? The best part was that it used comparatively little dust. She could go for another dozen glyphs like that at her current pace.

However, the knight wasn't discouraged. It lunged again, this time keeping its distance and letting its rapier's fiery extension do the work for it. Yet every attack, she avoided flawlessly while it got shocked by her lightning. Not many things could dodge a projectile moving at a third of the speed of light.

But the knight was still armored, and judging by the amount of punishment it took from Yang and Blake, a few shocks weren't going to do much.

After the fourth lightning, the knight growled as it shook off the pain. It took a while, but it managed to acclimate to the sensation. Nevertheless, it still lacked a proper counter to it.

Weiss leapt back, and to her surprise, the knight did as well. Why? While distance meant nothing to a weapon with limitless range, surely it would be easier for her see it coming the further away it was?

The knight stared at its rapier and raised it above its head. In an instant, half a dozen blue orbs hovered around it like floating lanterns.

 _What the… what is that, magic? What are those things? Some kind of dust?_

As the orbs glowed brighter, the knight resumed its stance. With a leap, it covered the massive gap between it and Weiss.

She focused all her strength on dodging. She needed to create distance-

"GRRK! What the-!"

In a flash, one of the knight's orbs shot forward, grazing her left leg in the middle of its attack. Weiss immediately tried to back away, but the knight continued its assault, and her leg was slowly being encased with some kind of crystal, stopping her from running.

In a panic, she created another glyph, this time, a purple one below the knight. Right away, the knight fell to its knees and hands, its armor creaking like it was about to fall apart. It tried to move, but it could only drag its knuckles across the grass, crawling inch by inch.

She used the opening to move back as much as she could. With the amount of gravity dust used and the state the knight was in, she had about five seconds before the glyph weakened its grip completely.

Looking at her wound, she noticed the thick crystalline shell covered her entire calf, trying to wrap around her leg. It looked like raw dust was growing out of her, stabbing and digging into her like a thousand needles.

"No, no, no, no, no! Don't panic, just don't panic!" She muttered to herself. "How did this-I had my aura-"

She tried tearing the crystals away, but they were spreading faster than she could remove them. Soon, even her hands were covered.

"Wait, my aura?!"

With more of her body being enveloped, the sensation was clearer - her aura was disappearing. The crystal's growth was slowing down as well, nearly stopping at her thigh and elbows.

 _Is my aura tied to these crystals? So if I want them off, I need to turn off my aura? But that's suicide!_

But the knight wasn't waiting for her to devise other options. It was already back on its feet and the gravity glyph was fading away.

"Alright, alright!" Weiss shouted to herself. Taking a deep breath, she retracted her aura back into her core as much as she could. Almost instantly, the crystals lost their luster and crumbled off, shattering like glass when they hit the ground. In a couple seconds, her limbs were freed, with the remaining shards disintegrating into powder.

Controlling one's aura was a difficult matter, but it was necessary for all huntresses, and her training forced her to control hers to a meticulous degree. She never imagined consciously lowering her aura would come in useful, though.

 _But if I lower my barrier, I'm going to get burned, and a single hit would probably kill me. But those crystals… just a scratch is enough to stop me._

Her thoughts were interrupted when another orb shot past her, brushing her ponytail aside. The knight charged again with its rapier ablaze, forcing her to retreat.

 _No good. The longer I fight, the harder it'll going to get! I can't stall any longer. I need to end this now!_

She stole a quick peek at her hilt. She spent about a third of gravity dust on that last glyph, and about three-quarters of lightning dust throughout the fight.

 _If only I could-_

A deafening rumble shook the ground. She looked around, expecting Grimm, but the whole area was bare. All the trees around have been burned and not a smidgen of green remained. The entire section of the forest was dead.

But the sky was even more menacing. When the team first entered the forest, clouds were minimal. Now, all the ash and smoke seemed to have condensed into the air, rumbling menacingly as it crackled and swirled and churned.

 _Crackle? Oh no._

The gray sky confirmed her fear with a white bolt lighting up the clouds.

 _Rain? No. With all the heat the forest fire and this thing sends up, the air should be too dry for rain. But those clouds…_

She shook her head. She needed to pay attention to the battle, not some lightning storm.

 _Wait, lightning storm?_

The knight charged again, sending wave after wave of crystals her way. Weiss dodged them all, but she knew she had to act fast. Her legs won't last forever.

Soon, all the crystals were slung, embedding and growing around the field into spires. The knight never seemed to run out or get tired, simply standing in place and waving his rapier to summon forth more crystals around him. It was now or

She stopped running around him, and raised Myrtenaster's hilt at the ready. She was going to use all of her dust at once. Her timing had to be perfect.

 _Then again, a plan like this is something only Ruby would be crazy enough to try. Guess she's rubbed off on me._

With a deft swing, the knight changed its weapon again, this time, into a long rod with the pommel placed at the top. At first glance, it seems as though the knight simply flipped its rapier around, hold onto the bladed part.

It was only when it swung it that she realized its use: just before the swing, a blue blade, similar to the crystals, appeared out of the pommel.

She only had a millisecond to duck under the blade, and she began her attack.

The knight couldn't recover fast enough for her approach, but a glyph didn't appear anywhere near her. Before it could ready its staff, a sudden weight on its body forced its whole body down to the ground: a glyph, this one bigger and brighter than the previous one, appeared under it.

Weiss had to hurry. Even though the gravity glyph's much stronger, she didn't want to find out what other tricks the knight had with his sword. She raised her pommel into the air, creating even more yellow glyphs above her target.

Before she could create the last one, she fell to her knees. Using her semblance for so long while she was already exhausted was bound to take its toll. The ashen ground dyed her dress and hands gray, some even getting into her mouth and sticking to her sweat-stained face.

Yet, as improper as it was to prostrate in front of an enemy, she smiled. Scratch that, she smirked. She remembered her reason for coming to Beacon: more than just to become a huntress, but to be a stronger person. To be more than meet, but surpass everyone's expectations. To be a better person than her father, at least.

But now, all that was brushed off to the wayside. This was the edge. There was no legacy, no title, no Schnee name, or even Team RWBY. Just her.

 _Ruby, Blake, Yang, Winter. It's my turn. What can I do?_

She stood up, gritting her teeth into a ferocious grin. With a last wave of her weapon, a column of shimmering glyphs formed above the first ones.

 _Not enough. More!_

She swung again, and glyphs continued to appear, one after another, until they reached past the clouds.

The knight mustered all the strength it could, but couldn't even take a step. It was helpless against the pillar of halos aimed down at it.

She gazed at her masterpiece, her grin wide enough to hurt her cheeks.

"Now!"

* * *

It happened fast. So fast that even she didn't know what happened. All that she knew was that a lightning bolt came crashing down, blowing up the ground on contact. The explosion was enough to send debris flying at her like flechettes, throwing her back.

However it was the noise that was the most alarming. Usually, her aura protected her entire body, her ear canals included, from deafening sounds. But right now, her aura was completely spent, and her head was aching more from the disorienting thunder than the shockwave..

Weiss didn't know how long it has been since that attack. Her vision kept fading in and out of focus. Every part of her body ached. It hurt to breathe. She could barely think with so much pain.

Her body silently screamed at her to just stay down and sleep away, but she knew better. Whether her opponent was felled or not, she had to make it back to Ruby, tell her of a job well done. As soon as she wiped the soot from her eyes-

 **"** **NO… BURN… THE FLAME…"**

Weiss nearly choked on her breath. He was still alive?!

Got to move. Have to keep moving. Where's Myrtenen… no, I can't bother with that now.

She somehow managed to drag herself up on her feet, but immediately fell back on one knee. Her previous confidence was gone, and with it, her strength. Every bone in her body felt like rusted metal, grinding against each other in their effort to move.

"Come on!" she screamed to herself. She soon got back on her feet, and stumbled back, keeping watch on her target as she did.

The knight was in even worse shape. Its armor looked ready to crumble, slivers of char already falling away. She could no longer see heat waves warping around his body. If it wasn't for his voice, anyone else would have thought him a burnt set of armor.

But she knew better. She did all she could. Her Myrtenaster was gone. She was out of Dust. She had to run.

She cradled herself, barely avoiding tripping over a rock. Any slip ups now any she doubted she would get back up. Her body still ached from the force of the blast, but at least her concussion was clearing up.

Meanwhile, the knight was struggling just as much. By its nature, it couldn't feel pain, but it could barely keep itself together, much less move.

But move it did. It dug its fingers into the dirt, and slowly stumbled to its knees. Raising its head, it saw its target - now almost concealed by the surviving trees and greenery - limping away.

It raised one knee and clenched his left hand to its chest. A bright halo gradually expanding from the knight. Soon, the light became blinding and the knight carefully got on its feet.

The sound of a bell rang through the air, and Weiss turned around to see the knight, bathed in a light under a golden glyph of its own.

 _Oh fuck off!_

Weiss turned to face him, but didn't stop moving. Whatever that light was, the knight was standing again, and looking at her.

The light quickly disappeared, and Weiss didn't want to find out what happened. She redoubled her pace, in case he decided to attack again.

The knight rearmed itself with its catalyst. It could no longer see the girl, but it knew her general direction. That was good enough for one last attack.

* * *

She couldn't run anymore. Not with Blake weighing her down. Her sister insisted that she could carry her, but with her whole body blistered and scarred, she doubted she could get far.

And that bang of thunder. There was little doubt in her mind that that was Weiss's handiwork. She just hoped it was enough and Weiss would catch up with them soon.

Ruby slowed herself to a walk when she saw a clearing. Sighing in relief at the feeling of a dirt path, she knelt and looked over Blake.

"Bhow's she?" Yang sputtered. Her face swelled even more during their escape. At least the cuts on her face healed.

But Blake wasn't so lucky. The burn marks around her neck was even more pronounced now, the flesh resembling burnt tree bark. Just breathing made her feel like her neck was crackling open.

"She's still breathing," Ruby panted. "But Weiss... I need to go back. Yang, take my scroll."

She tossed her sister the tablet. With all the damage Yang received in her fight with the knight, Ruby doubted Yang's scroll was still operational.

Yang didn't say a word. Not because of her wounds, but from exhaustion. Still, she knew what her sister was up to and caught the blinking tablet. Not like she could stop her at this state.

"Just stay here and scream when you see backup-"

 **SSSSSSHH!**

A beam of light shot out of the forest, grazing Yang's hair as it tore apart the forest on the other side of the road. Yang nearly dropped the tablet in shock, and her broken jaw dropped at the sight of the laser vaporizing everything it touched.

Ruby, however, stared at the direction of the beam and screamed. Weiss, her whole body shredded and covered in blood, launched out of the forest and crashed into Ruby.

Yang turned around and ran towards her sister, only to trip over Blake's body in her panic.

Ruby grabbed Weiss in time to keep her from flying further back, but was thrown back in turn. Trying to stop their momentum, Ruby planted her scythe on the ground and hugged Weiss with her free arm.

They only stopped when they crashed into a tree. Holding onto her was difficult: the slick blood combined with her weight nearly made Ruby drop her on impact.

She dropped Crescent Rose to better hold her, and gently dropped her down.

"Weiss!" Ruby screamed. "Weiss, get up! Talk to me!"

She held her breath when Weiss coughed up blood. Her whole body trembled as she opened her eyes.

"Ru... Run."

Ruby looked over her. Besides being painted with blood, the gashes and cuts weren't closing at all. Her aura was completely spent. And the blood… kept trickling out of…

"NO!"

Ruby dragged Weiss into a sitting position and leaned her next to a tree.

 _I need to stop the bleeding. Cloth, cloth, cloth!_

Immediately, she swiped her cape off herself and wrapped it around the the part that was most injured: her torso.

She didn't know what good it would do, but anything to stop the bleeding!

"Ruby!" Yang screamed. She tried to get up, but her legs wouldn't move. Her arms, burnt as they were, were even less cooperative.

Ruby did all she could think of to save Weiss, and looked and Yang. So helpless, so pitiable, her older sister. So broken, Blake. And Weiss.

It was petrifying.

But she got ready.

Her nails dug into her palm as she grabbed onto Crescent Rose. Clenching her teeth to keep steady, she walked towards the knight.

And ran.

Yang's eyes went wide and her breath stopped in her throat. A shot of her rifle, a slipstream of rose petals, and she was gone.

The knight had no time to react. The girl disappeared, and it found a guillotine blade around its neck.

 _One shot…. All the way through!_

Another gunshot rang through air and the blade dug into the armor. The knight screamed and the force of the blast knocked it down.

But it wasn't enough.

Ruby fell alongside it and struggled to get the scythe out. She fired again and again, but the blade - now molten and glowing red - refused to finish decapitating its target.

"Come on, come on!"

The knight, with its armor stained with burning ichor, grabbed the blade with both hands. Slowly, it bent in its grip, and freed from the wound.

Ruby tried to free her weapon, even hoping to wrench it from its grasp by firing it. But by the time it let go, the blade was dripping off the barrel like honey.

The knight looked at its hands. Ruby looked at Crescent Rose.

Frantic, Ruby jumped back and transformed it back into a rifle as best she could. Running back to Yang, she unloaded all she had at it, hoping to slow it down.

But it didn't do anything. The bullets that managed to stagger it with each shot now seemed to bounce off it. Soon, it picked its sword back up and walked towards her.

"DAMN IT ALL!"

Yang flinched in shock as she saw Ruby do the unthinkable: not curse, but toss Crescent Rose away.

"Yang, come on, we need to go!"

With tears in her eyes, Ruby hoisted Yang and Blake's arm over her shoulder. She got back on her feet and turned to Weiss.

Only to face the knight up the blade of his sword.

Ruby stopped breathing. Like a deer in headlights, she and Yang couldn't do anything but look in terror as the knight raised its-

"Get away from my girls-

 **KTAAANG!**

-you son a bitch!"

An enormous blade slammed into its back and shot the knight into the air, landing several feet back into the forest border.

Ruby and Yang ducked at the wind of the blow. That voice, but it couldn't be…

"Team RWBY! We came as fast as we could!"

"Are you alright?!"

Jaune ran up to them and helped them up, trying to keep an encouraging smile on his face. Not easy, when one was covered in bloody burns and the other looked ready to break down into sobs.

"Hey, come on," Jaune urged, smiling with as much confidence as he could muster. "Help's here. And guess who came with?"

Ruby wiped her eyes and looked around. It wasn't just JNPR that accompanied him. Goodwitch, Port, Ooblek, even Ozpin came armed and ready.

But there was one more. She turned around and felt tears escape her - Uncle.

They were saved.

"Hey, Oz!" he screamed to the headmaster. His weapon hisses with heat from the blow, but he knew it could take more punishment than that. "I know we came for the girls, but go on without me. I want to teach this thing a couple things before we bring it down."

"Don't engage, Qrow," Ozpin said sternly. "Safety of our students come first. We need to clear the area and get them to the bullhead. Port, Oobleck, get Belladonna and Schnee. Goodwitch, back up Qrow" He ran up to JNPR and Ruby. "Ms. Rose, we're here to get you out. The bullhead's right behind us."

Ruby looked up and indeed, the aircraft was rising over the forest horizon. Never did a bullhead look so comforting to her.

"Mr. Oz - pin," she gasped. She didn't realize how much aura she spent in that last dash. "That thing - we can't -"

"We're not going to fight it, Ms. Rose," he firmly interrupted. "Thanks to your team's efforts, it's incapacitated at the moment. The bullhead will take you back to Beacon with Ms. Goodwitch."

"Oz!" Qrow shouted again, his sword at the ready. "It's getting up!"

Ozpin and Ruby whipped around, both with worry on their faces.

The knight, balancing itself on its sword, stood straight once more, leaking even more of that burning liquid.

"Oz, I'm going in!"

"Qrow, don't-"

But before Goodwitch could stop him, he sprinted forward, ready to take its head.

The knight saw him coming. That last attack nearly cleaved its armor apart, and there were reinforcements. Far stronger than the girls. No weapon would be enough to fight them all at once. It grabbed its sword with both hands, and before Qrow could touch the knight, plunged it into the ground.

"Grrraahk!"

The explosion sent him flying back, and it was only thanks to Goodwitch's reflexes that he didn't crash into someone.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cried.

He looked at his arms. His aura was enough to protect him from burns, but the sheer concussive blast was impossible to completely mitigate. And the heat was unimaginable. The knight was a walking eruption.

"Qrow, what did Ozpin say?!" Goodwith screamed, letting him down with a wave of her crop. "Do not engage!"

He shook himself into focus and readied himself. "That's thing's got other ideas!"

The knight pulled its sword out, both of them now wreathed in billowing flame. The sword itself extended to a size even greater than its wielder, and melted the ground with its touch.

"Get back, all of you!" Ozpin shouted.

The knight didn't bother itself with them. Not with possibly even more reinforcement on the way.

Energy crackled as it coagulated in his left hand, glowing brighter as it grew larger and louder.

"He's attacking!" Goodwitch raised her arms to block anything coming their way. "Get ready!"

With a roar, the knight threw its lightning, sending it whizzing far away from anyone on the ground. Everyone's eyes followed the bolt with increasing despair until it pierce through the incoming bullhead.

No one could say anything, only look in awe and fear as the now-impaled bullhead fumed and spun out of control. Disappearing behind the forest, it was only the delayed sound of the explosion that snapped them back to attention.

Everyone stared at the knight, who had wrapped both its hands around its sword.

 **"** **BURN… IN THE FIRE… "**

And it pounced once again, to burn souls as it always had, and always will.

* * *

Well, my first fanfic in years, and it's a glorified fight scene spanning 10k and way past its hype/relevance. Oh well, I'm just glad I managed to finish this after months of delays.

For anyone that managed to trudge through this garbage, thank you for your time and I hope it was at least somewhat enjoyable. IMO, the last tenth feels pretty weak, but honestly I had no idea where to go from there, as well as due to my sporadic writing schedule, my flow and wording's all over the place. Any comment will be appreciated, although if I'm going to write anything else in the future, it won't be anything with fight scenes.


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